End of an era for coastal post office?

Financial difficulty is forcing the U.S. Postal Service to consider the closure of up to 3,700 locations nationwide. While several Peninsula locations are on the list, including South San Francisco and Colma, the potential closure of the San Gregorio location is of particular concern for residents of the small coastal town as it is one of the few businesses left there.

"If they close, it’s going to be very upsetting,” said Scott H. of San Gregorio, who has had a P.O. Box there for 16 years. "All my friends use it.”

Although the postal service is owned by the federal government, it acts as a revenue generating corporation, said U.S. Postal Service spokesman James Wigdel. This means that a 20 percent decline in mail volume coupled with a complete dropoff of in-store retail sales will almost assuredly force it to readjust in one form or the other.

"We operate as a business,” Wigdel, adding that no taxpayer dollars are used to fund the postal service and that it lost $8.5 billion in revenue last year.

For customers of the San Gregorio post office, that is exactly where the problem lies.

"Running on whether or not you have a profit, that’s not the way you do it,” said George Cattermal who has owned the San Gregorio General Store for the last 31 years.

The store leases out the south end of its building to the very small post office which houses just over 50 P.O. boxes. Ironically, Cattermal notes that if the office were to close, he would be able to easily rent it out to another business at possibly a higher rate.

However, the independent-minded store owner said he is more interested in protecting his community and his most loyal patrons.

"They should be taking care of the rural people,” he said.

Kevin Miles of La Honda served as a deputy harbormaster in Half Moon Bay until retiring four years ago. He attests that he knows the inner-workings of government bureaucracy and believes the possible closure of the San Gregorio post office as well as a similar location in nearby Loma Mar represents a long-standing neglect of coastal residents by government officials.

"They treat this place like a big recreational park and forget that people live here,” said Miles who frequents the General Store and uses its post office when passing through.

"A lot of elderly people use it, they don’t use email, it’s the next generation,” he said of people who would be affected if their access to what many now jokingly refer to as "snail mail” is limited.

As the USPS continues to expand its online services, lack of Internet access will become increasingly difficult for those who may be already isolated from the world.

It may seem like San Gregorio, a town with no main street to speak of, is a place that has been forgotten by time. A general store has existed there since settlers began arriving in the area around what is now State Route 84 in the 1850s, serving as a place locals could receive and send mail. Originally connected to Redwood City by railroad, it was believed that San Gregorio might possibly become a thriving coastal micro-metropolis. Locals say it is now at further risk of completely disappearing.

Surveying his store from its bar as a live band begins to play for his weekend patrons, Cattermal feels less confident that local residents will once again organize and petition U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, to keep the store afloat as they have before in the past.

"I’m much more pessimistic this time,” he said.

Still, postal officials said even if the location is closed, delivery service will not be changed.

"We’re doing as best we can,” Wigdel said.